Posted: Friday 23 September 2011
Spotlight on police as Commissioner examines wrongful arrest claims
Professor John McNeill, Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland said: "The cases I have highlighted this month deal with the fundamental issues around decisions by the police to deprive people of their liberty. There can be no greater test of public confidence in the police than the way they exercise their power to detain and arrest citizens. In exercising that power the police have to be subject to a degree of oversight and scrutiny, far beyond that which applies to the majority of public servants.
A protestor who was detained by police for refusing to give officers his name should be given an apology by Lothian and Borders Police, according to an independent review by the police complaints commissioner, Professor John McNeill.
An internal police report by the Chief Inspector in charge of the force's investigation into the original complaint contained a reference to the officer's suspicion that a possible breach of the peace had occurred. This is contrary to a statement provided by the constable involved in the incident, who stated that he explained to the man that enquiries were being made to ascertain "what offence if any had been committed".
In a letter to the man who made the complaint, the Deputy Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police admitted that his officers misinterpreted the provision of section 13 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 and apologised for this. However, he went on to say that he was satisfied that "in the circumstances" the officers would have been "justified" in arresting him.
In the review published today (22 September) the Commissioner reminds Lothian and Borders Police that under Section 13(5)(a) of the 1995 Act an officer must, when requesting certain information, inform the person of his suspicion and the general nature of the offence he suspects the person has committed.
The Commissioner did not accept that there was any lawful basis for detaining or arresting the applicant and has now asked Lothian and Borders to acknowledge this and apologise to the man.
In another complaint involving Lothian and Borders Police, a man unsuccessfully challenged the lawfulness of his being stopped and detained on suspicion of carrying a knife. Following a call from a member of the public, officers from the force were informed by a CCTV operator that a person matching the description of the male had been seen nearby.
The officers stopped the man under section 50 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995, which allows officers to detain and search individuals suspected of having a bladed article in a public place. In his report the Commissioner found that the weight of evidence suggested that the applicant had been informed of the basis for his detention and that the officers had acted lawfully and appropriately. No offensive weapons were found during the search and the man was released without charge.
Four complaints about Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, including two of wrongful detention and wrongful arrest, were also dismissed by the Commissioner this month. The complaints were made by a man who had been arrested for wasting police time. As part of his review Professor McNeill was provided with recordings of eight 999 calls made between 19 and 22 March 2009 from the man requesting police assistance. In one call, in the early hours of the morning, the man told emergency services that his nephew was running about the street with a knife and going "berserk". The man in question was not physically in the street or vicinity when the officers attended.
The Commissioner described the force's handling of each of the complaints as "reasonable" saying that the applicant's detention was justified by the information available to the officers at the time and that there was sufficient evidence to charge him with wasting police time.
The public have a right to expect that the behaviour of the police will be lawful and courteous and, when they believe that the service they have received has fallen short, they expect the PCCS to act. For my part, when I find that the police have got it wrong, I call on them to apologise, acknowledge their error and take steps to learn from the complaint. I will also support their decisions when I see evidence that they have handled complaints reasonably and within the law."